In this blog you will see a journey being taken by students and teacher to build up our minds, muscles and imaginations together through inquiry, exploration, investigation, problem solving and teamwork!

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Saturday, June 14, 2014

The End of the School Year 2013-2014...

Another year has come to an end! This last week we just enjoyed the friendships that were cultivated this year. As they played, here are some explorations that started popping up! If only we had more time so that we could inquire about them further!

Transient Art: The patience and thought process behind some of these designs were awesome!

A "Can You Build It?" Challenge: I loved their interpretations of some of these structures!

Exploring Balance: I have been encouraging this exploration all year, but they just became interested in it this past week!

Dancing: This was a very spontaneous interest that popped up that could have been a very fun inquiry! They were ballroom dancing, ballet dancing, and break dancing! The kids started giving each other lessons! They had to give and follow multiple step directions with each other. And it was also adorable to watch!

Oh the things we could explore if we just had more time! These kids had so much curiosity and looked at everything as something to explore further.

The room is packed up for another group of kids to add their personal touch. I wonder what it will look like next year? It always makes me sad when the personality the room had from our group is gone and it is all so bare.

I will miss them so much but it is time to let them go and become first graders at new schools. I know that they will be successful because of all of the 21st Century Skills they have developed this year! They are super!

Parents, I hope you all enjoy the video! We watched it together no less than 10 times in our room. I wish you could have heard all 30 of them belting out that song! It was their favorite....even more than "Let it Go!" I will miss you all. Have a wonderful summer!

Hi! Our district is making a huge push towards personalized learning and many of our elementary schools are doing so through PBL. Some of our primary teachers have concerns about getting all the fundamental skills in that are so important! Can you give me some advice as to how you get it all in alongside all the PBL and inquiry based instruction in your classroom? Any help or advice you can give would be greatly appreciated!Whitney Pasch

How wonderful your district is moving in the right direction! I keep a copy of the standards by me as I plan. The reading, writing, social studies and science are easy to get in with inquiries and projects. Math is a little harder for me so I plan separate areas for specific math exploration. I still have a station time where they are specifically working on reading/math skills. I still have whole group mini lessons to introduce specific skills, then encourage them to use these skills as we explore. I have to be very aware of opportunities as they arise and grab onto them as teaching moments. If you send me your email address, I can send you my planning templates which help me connect the standards to the inquiries and projects. They may help you out! -Darla

So, do you have three separate small group sessions: one for math skills, reading skills, and then a PBL work session? If you wouldn't mind sending me an idea of your schedule and I'd love to see you plan template too! AWESOME SAUCE!!! willandlennon@gmail.com

I am a Kindergarten Teacher for West Carrollton City Schools (West Carrollton, Ohio, U.S.). I have taught kindergarten for 24 years. In this blog, you will see both teacher and students on a journey to build up our minds, muscles, and imaginations through inquiry, investigation, exploration, problem solving and teamwork. We learn together through a project/inquiry and play based learning environment. I have been on a journey from a traditional, thematic based teaching style to a more student-led, project/inquiry and play based teaching style. The more I learn from all of you wonderful teachers around the world, the more fun I am having inquiring, exploring and learning along side my students. I hope that this blog will be an inspiration for those of you thinking about doing the same.